I was invited to attend a Christian wedding in Davao. I was totally thrilled because I would see my nephew again. However, I forget to bring a ‘pasalubong’. Good thing, I brought my Belle De Jour coupon booklet.

SM Lanang Premier is walking distance from the house that my sister and her family usually stay in when they are in Davao. It was only my third time to visit the place and I was still not familiar with the establishments.

I was checking my BDJ coupons when I saw Chef Tony booth and luckily my nephew, Athan love eating popcorn! I immediately went to the stall and presented the Buy 1 Tub and Get Your 2nd Tub at 50%.

I asked for the best seller and Ate Marie Cris suggested their Original Caramel flavor. The friendly assistant who was unfamiliar with the coupon because it was her first time to encounter it was very accommodating. I chose the largest tub of Caramel which cost 150 php and received the second tub for 75 php only! I paid 225 php instead of 300 php, such an awesome deal!

The happiness in the eyes and huge smiles of Athan and Kinah when I brought home these two tubs from Chef Tony was priceless! Thank you very much Belle De Jour and Chef Tony for this wonderful discount promo!

Nothing but death can keep eighteen-year-old Gideon Blake from achieving his goal of becoming a U.S. Army Ranger. As it turns out, it does.

While recovering from the accident that most definitely killed him, Gideon finds himself with strange new powers and a bizarre cuff he can’t remove. His death has brought to life his real destiny. He has become War, one of the legendary four horsemen of the apocalypse.

Over the coming weeks, he and the other horsemen—Conquest, Famine, and Death—are brought together by a beautiful but frustratingly secretive girl to help save humanity from an ancient evil on the emergence.

They fail.

Now—bound, bloodied, and drugged—Gideon is interrogated by the authorities about his role in a battle that has become an international incident. If he stands any chance of saving his friends and the girl he’s fallen for—not to mention all of humankind—he needs to convince the skeptical government officials the world is in imminent danger.

But will anyone believe him?

What I like about the Story:Meet the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse. Two weeks ago, I just watched X-men and a few days after I received the copy of the book. So Xmen Apocalypse’s Horsemen and the Four Horsemen here in Riders are different? That caught my interest. The first horseman is War aka Gideon Blake, the soldier wannabe and leader of the team who has an uncontrollable rage. The next horseman is none-other than the actor wannabe and the coolest pal in the group, Faminine aka Sebastian ‘Bas’ Luna (I love his name). The third horseman is the quietest and grumpiest huge guy, Death aka Marcus and the last one to complete the horsemen is the smartest and richest bloke, Conquest aka Jode or James Oliver Drummond Ellis.

Daryn, Handcuffs and the Kindreds… There is this mysterious girl name Daryn Martin, who has a silver chain on her neck and a key whom Gideon met at a party. Daryn is actually a Seeker who is looking for the Four Horsemen to fight an evil gang called Kindreds: Samrael (whose power I like most), Ronwae, Pyro, Raom, Alevar, Bay and Malaphar (his name is the creepiest). I admire Daryn because she very strong and she enjoys writing in her journal (like me!) One more thing is the hand cuffs and its purpose. Wow, I couldn’t believe that the significance of it in the story is more than it showed in the beginning!

The Unbelievable Connection of 2nd of August, Horses and the Horsemen special armors!The Horsemen have their own unique horses like Gideon’s Riot who is a fiery and very temperamental horse, Bas’s Shadow is the cutest with its bluish mane, Marcus’s Ruin is all black which kinda scary and Jode’s Lucent is probably the loveliest of them all with its pale gray skin. When Gideon and Daryn met Bas, he was already using his armor: Scales that came in handy and piqued Gideon’s interest. Marcus released his Sycthe when Gideon asked for a fight with him. Jode who had difficulty calling his bow and arrow made Gideon jealous of his own armor: Sword. It was August 2 when Gideon’s Father died and… that same day also, all four of them almost died and got the handcuffs on their wrist. Coincidence? Perhaps it is!

Quotes to Remember:‘I learned that when bad things happened, my Dad stepped forward first. I learned he was a hero. A real one.’

Daryn to Gideon“There are times I catch you watching me, and what I see in them makes me forget everything. What I am, and what I do and I’m just a girl again. A girl who gets a million butterflies in her stomach over the boy with the prettiest blue eyes.” –Aww!

How it ends:Samrael and Bas lost in a portal. Daryn and Shadow were missing. Gideon would never be in the army because of his right hand.

Verdict:At the beginning of the story, it was slow-paced. If this would go up until the middle, I think I’m going to put this down for awhile, but when the searched for four horsemen started, I was excited. If you are not into fantasy teen novel, you might not appreciate Riders but its worth to pick and read this well-crafted book. I’m looking forward to its second book: Seeker!

There is an on-going give-away for the finished copy of Riders! PH residents only!

Open the link and join: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/a38337fd4/

Perk's ratings: 4.5/5

Thank you TOR Teen for the review copy and Veronica Rossi Philippines for allowing me to be part of the blog tour!

I’ve been very excited since I became part of Jahric Lago’s Project: Dreamlovers. It is a self-funded and published book of 10 beautiful love stories from aspiring writers who submitted their entries and became the winners of the said project.

Last May 31 at J. CO Greenhills Promenade, a free writing workshop, namely: Write Near, Go Far: The Journey in Becoming an Efficient Writer took place. They were more than 20 attendees who enjoyed the 10 am to 3 pm seminar. The speakers were Sharron Navera, founder of True Philippine Ghost Stories, Ryan Labana, a writer from PSICOM, Melai Quilla, a writer and editor of PSICOM’s Kilig Republic and Jahric Lago, a self-published author and a writer from PSICOM spearheaded the event.

Melai started the workshop with the Techniques in Writing where she discussed the Elements of a Good Story, Writer Goals and Grammar and Punctuations. I love every bit of information that I gather from Miss Melai’s PowerPoint presentation, it actually made me excited to write and edit my next story.

Jahric took the floor on the top 10 Reasons in Writing which made me realize that I’m on the right track of writing stories. Ryan told us his writing journey and opens his topic discussion with the question: Have you experience rejection when you submit your manuscript? Yours truly had the courage to raise her hands and share my experience. I do hope I inspire others to also have confident of sending their manus with different publishing house. Ryan’s experiences in writing were very motivated to improve my craft more.

Sharon shared her ups and downs in forming the True Philippine Ghost Stories (I read some of her books when I was still in college!) and her passion is definitely one of a kind. Jahric went back to the stage to introduce us with the Self-Publishing World which amazed me and truly made me think of entering one of these days. Melai closed the workshop on How to Pass a Call of Submission and reminded every attendee to Read, Write and Submit Again!

Aside from the very successful workshop, it was the launch of Jahric Lago’s first project, which was Dreamlovers and yes, my short story (I Love You Goodbye) was included in this very lovely compilation.

I’m grateful to attend the Write Near, Go Far and learned great things about writing and meeting wonderful and brilliant people. I’m glad to meet my co-writers: Charles, Ara, Jane and Sophie who were very nice to sign with my books though it was ambushed. A round of applause to the ever so talented and inspiring Jahric for creating this superb workshop and for giving aspiring writers a chance to publish their works. Dreamlovers would not be possible without you.

I can’t wait for the Write Near, Go Far Part 2 workshop and for Jahric’s upcoming book project.

I knew my book recommendations are a bit late already, but vacation and outings is not over yet! Grab these two books and you will surely enjoy your summer escapade!

Bounce: A Boomerang Novel (March)I actually won this book from a blog contest and I got giddy when I received it. Bounce is the final story from the Boomerang Series written by two very talented and amazing writers under one pseudonym.

Bounce is about Skyler Canby, a cellist who is trying to support herself and her mother. She auditioned for a supporting part, but never in her wildest dream that she would be chosen as the lead character and even planted a ‘real kiss’ with her audition partner!

Grey Blackwood is reckless musician who spent his days working with his brother’s new project while he performs with his band at night. Blackwood Entertainment will have its first film and he was asked to be the ‘audition lead actor’. He got bored with the auditions not until this lady with a pink hair read her lines and he just kissed her!

What I like about the story:

The audition and the music… I actually enjoyed the audition parts of Skyler and this story also features about finding yourself with great songs.

The chemistry of the young Grey and a little bit mature Skyler. Don’t mind the age, but these two from the very beginning that they met, sparks flew in the air. Skyler was a bit drawn back when she started to have feelings with Grey. She tried to stop herself, but when she became hopeless and tired being a celebrity; she found a solace in the arms of Grey who have been caring and supportive of her.

Quotes to remember!‘It’s about making a mistake so big, it changes what you see and breathe and even move through. It’s about being lost and not knowing how to stop being lost.’

Grey to Skyler“I guess I see the lost part as a good thing. Being lost means you’re searching. It means your trying to get somewhere, understand something.”

‘I can’t pretend not to know what it all means. That I wanted him more than anyone else. That he wanted to be here more than anything else. It doesn’t matter if he’s younger than me or musician or still figuring things out. Grey is here. I just want him. Plain and simple.’

‘Because with him it doesn’t matter if I’m in a hospital gown. If I’m not perfect. With him, it all falls away.’

Mia to Sky“I’m glad, Sky. He’s crazy about you. And I like how he always asks about you. How he wants to care for you. I think you need that since you care for everyone.”

‘Maybe I don’t have to be the yes-girl, after all. Maybe I can be the sometimes girl.The not-now girl.’ –I agree!

Verdict:If you want a light and fun book to read while you are enjoying the beach for a few days, grab this novel. I swear, Grey and Skyler will keep you company! Congrats to Noelle August aka Veronica Rossi and Lorin Oberweger, awesome collaboration!

The Year We Became Invisible (April)I saw this book last year and when I read the summary on the back, I became curious. The story teller is someone who is writing for her future partner!

Meet Camille Li, a teenager who is about to graduate from high school. Her life is all plan out: she will enroll in the UC Berkeley, where her father graduated, she will major in Chemistry and she will be a doctor like her dad.

Yet, when Camille’s senior year came, everything changed. She began to start questioning what she truly wants for her life.

What I like about the story:The story and the pacing… I was instantly become interested as soon as I started reading the first page. Camille is writing to her future partner about her everyday life! How exciting is that right?!

Opposite Attracts: The Slacker ‘Ian’ and the Well-Organized ‘Camille’. I didn’t expect that there would be a romance in the story because the first part was about Camille surviving her last year in high school and preparing her college life. And then came along, Ian, who was into Gabby, but he is still caring for Camille and even remembers everything that she says.

Meet the Invincible. The first thing that came across my mind when I read this word was, am I going to read superhero thingy? Camille became close to Ian’s friends and she saw them as people who can do anything, who looks and enjoy an adventure.

Quotes to remember!Dad to Camille“You keep coming to the class and keep practicing because you are not a quitter. You’re a winner.”

‘Sometimes, I think colleges are not looking for those with the most intelligence, but for those who can handle the stress more.’

Ian to Cam“It’s your life, not your dad’s. God, you even have your whole life planned out to become exactly like your dad.”

“Being right doesn’t make it okay for you to judge people, Cam.”

‘I knew it was right to forgive people who hurt you. But I didn’t think forgiveness meant allowing the people you forget to trample over you again. That wasn’t forgiveness.” –I totally agree!

Cam to the Invicibles“I felt that fear during our adventures, but I learned that it’s okay to be scared. Fear is okay if you don’t let it take over. When I did things despite that fear, that’s when all these limits didn’t matter. For the first time, I actually believe that I can do anything. I’m different when I’m with you guys. I’m… I’m Invicible.”

Cam’s text to Ian‘The thing about dreams though is that you eventually wake up. You wake up, and you realize that all those wonderful things you thought you had were all in your head. What hurts the most, Ian, is that unlike other dreams, I don’t forget. Every time I wake up, the disappointment gets stronger and stronger. I don’t think I can hold on to this dream when I know deep in my heart that it’s never going to come true.’ –Heartbreaking!

‘Before I could say anything, Ian grabbed my waist, and he kissed me. He kissed me, and I let him. Right there I knew—I wasn’t a second choice.’

‘When you have a plan, it says if you follow this one direction, everything’s going to be okay. The problem is life doesn’t have one direction. Sometimes, you never know where to go or even how far you’re going. Maybe instead of planning my life, it would be better to add life to my plan.’ –I love this!

‘But one thing I learned from this roller coaster of a year is that I don’t need you to experience what love is. I also don’t need to wait for you to live my life. My life doesn’t start when I meet you, my life has already started, and it’s a constant surprise.’

Verdict:Is this really the last page? I was not expecting that I enjoyed the 176 pages of this Young Adult novel by a Filipino author. The Year We Became Invincible is so far my favorite YA book this 2016! It reminded me of my teenage days and you will definitely learn a lot in this great masterpiece. Congratulations to Miss Mae Coyiuto!